Toucans, and Penguins
by Mastermindhunter
Summary: Written by me and Mobygirl21. I write chapter 1. She writes chapter 2. Two girls find out they are transformed into birds. As they try to find a way to turn back, they discover that they might have the home they always wanted. Keila not mine. Lilly is.
1. Freak accident

The two girls snuck all the way through Central Park. Finally they arrived at the wall of the zoo. Lilly was the first one to climb the wall. Lilly, the eldest was not okay with this. Her hair was a natural cherry red. It went down to her waist. Regardless of the length it was very limp and straight. her eyes were a very dark color of brown. She loved the color of her eyes. Her skin was not the prettiest. it did not have a healthy like color. it was extremely pale, and ghost like. She was more the good girl. She knew sneaking into the zoo was a bad idea. Go ahead call her a goody two shoes. She didn't like breaking the law. Still she gave into her little sisters pressure. Even though Lilly was older, and the voice of reason, she was not that brave. She was not ready to stand up to her short tempered sister.

As soon as Lilly jumped down, she called to her sister that the coast was clear. Keila was very different from her sister. She was a more popular one amung the men. Her hair was light brown, with red streaks in each side. It was the way her hair always looked. Unlike her sisters limp hair, her was wavey, and very beautiful. It was long, and extended past her hip. Her eyes were a very sparkling blue. her skin was a nice light tan color. She was more of the wild sister. There was nothing she liked more than getting an adventurous thrill. Sure it did cause her and her sister to get into some trouble, but they only lived life once. Even when her sister would refuse, she managed to trick her into getting into trouble.

When they landed on the other side, Lilly got into her fraidycat mode. "I don't thnk this is a very good idea."

"Oh, Lilly stop being such a weenie. We won't get caught!" Keila replied, as she helped her older sister up on her feet.

As the two snuck around, they kept a vigilint eye on the zoo. Knowing that crabby mean woman Alice, she was certainly trying to find people sneaking in past hours. They walked all throughout the zoo. Looking at all the animals as they walked by. it was nice seeing the nocturnal animals up for once. A sight you would never get to see during the day. Each animal more fun to watch than the last. Even though Lilly was a bit scared of getting into trouble, she still loved seeing the animals. Keila enjoyed the exact same exhibit as her sister. The penguin's exhibit. The two smiled at the habitat. it was empty when they reached it though. Where were the penguins? This seemed sort of off. well, at least they got to see some animals anyway.

"Hmm. Where do you suppose the penguins are?" Asked Keila

"I can't say for certain, but my guess is that they are in the hospital for check ups, or something like that." Lilly said not knowing for sure. "Then again, I shouldn't even be here."

The girls had decided to keep moving, but then suddenly they felt the ground shake. It was a low rumble, like a slight tremor. The girls hung onto eachother to stay stable. Suddenly they saw the water near the penguin habitat glow. As soon as the ground stopped shaking, they leaned on over to the penguins habitat. For a moment, things were quite silent. They figured it was just a trick of the light. All of a sudden out of nowhere, there was a deep green light that shot out of a hole under the penguins fish bowl. It shot to the girls faces. The squinted at the light, and suddenly felt themselves be blown back.

The girls slowly started coming to consiousness. Keila looked around, and felt like she was hit by a truck. Lilly felt no better. Keila glanced around as her head started to spin. When she looked at where her sister was, she saw something that was definitely not her sister. It was a penguin, but not exactly. Her feathers were half black, and half red. They were sort of mixed together, in a strange sort of way. When Keila glance at Lilly something was definitely off. She was not human either. She was a toucan. Her feathers were jet black, and the feather around her face, and chest were a creamy yellow. Her eyes were no longer brown, but a bright sparkling blue. Her feet were a blue color too. She had tail feathers that were black with red tips. Her beak was the most interesting. It was green color with blue, and orange stripes, with a red tip. If Keila knew correctly she was a very endangered species of toucan called the keel billed toucan. As they stared at each other in horror, they quickly found out that they had been turned into animals. Suddenly they heard an Indian voice.

"Hey, what are these birds doing here?"


	2. Surprise attack

Lilly screamed in surprise at the voice. "Oh, silly toucan! You needn't be scared, for am dee king," the voice said. The girls looked at the three lemurs before them. Keila stood up and said "What's with the leafy hat?" Julian looked taken aback. "Dees eez not a hat! Dis eez see royal crown, for see royal me! Zee royal King Julian," He answered. Keila couldn't help but bust out laughing. "King of what, the king of idiots? Or the king of the crazies?" Keila asked while laughing. "K-K-Keila, look behind you," Lilly stammered. Keila turned around and saw four penguins looking at her, trying to intimidate her. "You don't scare me," She said, with little to no emotion. "Kowalski, options!" Skipper said. "I suggest we knock them out and do blood tests." Lilly, well, they didn't need to knock her out, 'cuz she passed out cold. Keila seemed unfazed by this. "And, you think you guys," Keila said. "Can take me down easily. Wow, and to think I thought the team would have at least one smart one." Nobody had noticed Private sneak behind her, until he stepped on a twig. Keila spun around, kicked him in the jaw, and got him in a position that everyone knew could get Private's neck broken. "Madam, please-" Kowalski started. "Don't ever call me that again. I'm only eleven in human years, and I'm normally a human. I don't like it when I'm called madam. Now, I'll let him go, if you promise not to hurt my step-sister or I. If you say no to that, I brake the kid's neck. Understand?" Keila said. "Bye the way, my name is Keila, so call me that when you talk to me." "Keila, please, let Private go. He was just trying to signal to us to attack,because that was the plan. But, apparently, that was ineffective," Kowalski tried to persuade Keila to let Private go, but she stood her ground. "I'm not letting go unless you promise not to hurt me or my step-sister," Keila said. "Fine. We promise not to hurt you or your step sister. Just let him go," Skipper said. Keila did so, and then realized the lemurs had left. "Wusses," Keila muttered under her breath. Then, Keila felt someone touch her neck, and she blacked out. 


	3. Evaluation

The girls woke up to a dimly lit room. The walls were a dark grey. Darker than they were used to. They were regaining their conciousness slowly. Lilly groaned lazilly, as Keila woke up instantly. She was laying on a bunk bed, as her sister was above her, or what was now her sister. This was definitely no dream. She reached up to touch the feathers on her sisters arm. "Hey, Lilly. Wake up." Her sister woke up slowly. She reached her feet down to the floor, but must have not known how high up she was. She fell down to the floor, with a hard thud. Pain coursed through her body as she groaned with agony. She rubbed her nose, but was a bit shocked when she saw it. It was replaced with a beautifully colored beak. Her hand was now a wing. She quickly started feeling everything. Nothing was how it was supposed to be. Keila jumped down and tried consoling her frantically panicking sister, when they both looking at the four figures in the room. All four penguins from before. Keila saw them earlier, as Lilly was seeing them for first time. Keila glared angrily at them, as Lilly started backing up into the wall, whimpering girlishly. The boys all had worried faces as they tried to calmly get a bit closer to the girls.

"Calm down young ones. We are only here to help you girls out." Kowalski said holding his wings up in calming way.

Private walked out as well. "Trust us, girls. We aren't going to harm you." Private smiled. Lilly was not buying it. Private was taller than her. All of them were for that matter. Even her now penguinized sister. She was now the shortest one. There was all good reason to be frightened. Keila was now anything but trusting of the animals.

"Look. I have no idea what you did to me and my sister, but I can't see any way you all could help us." She said defensively. She kept them all in view as she stood between them and her sister. She may have been the youngest, but when her sister was in trouble, she was there to help. Be she taller or not.

Skipper looked at the girls that were not going to calm down. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way. Rico time for some rope." Rico nodded excitedly, and hacked out some rope. In an nstant the penguins aprehended the girls, and tied them together so they would calm down. No doubt they put up a good fight. Lilly was screaming and flipping out, as Keila was thrashing in the confines. They expected the boys to kill them on the spot, but they didn't. Instead the tallest one got relly close to each of them. He looked at them from afar, closing one eye, and holding up his pencil as if to measure them to see which one was shortest. He then did a full circle around them, and got really close to Keila, but seeing how aggresive she was he didn't get too close.

He took a really close look at her examining every detail. From her head to her toes. Suddenly he started writing things down. "Mmmm . . . hhhmmm. Species: penguin. Name: Kelia. Origon of: Antarctica. Has: red and black feather coat. Blue eyes, and is only half an inch below me." He dotted his paper with a period as he finished up on her evaluation. He then switched over to Lilly. He was not so reserved to her. He held her beak up, and open it up wide and stuck his head inside as if looking at it wasn't enough. He then pulled his head back out, and nodded. "Yep. Species: Keel billed toucan. Name: Lilly. Origin of: The Amazon rainforest. Has: black feathers with yelow face and chest. Blue eyes, with green beak. Stripes are orange and blue, with red tip. Blue feet, and black tail feathers with red tips." After her evaluation, he walked a few steps back.


	4. Blue eyes

Kela's POV

Oh my gosh. The tall one is so lucky I can't kill him right now! He was getting WAY to close to my sister! "Hey, Bucko. NOBODY gets that close to my sister unless it's her boyfriend, someone trying to make her feel better, or me!" I said, my voice rising. "What about your parents?" The one with the English accent asked. What was his name? Oh, it was Private. And, I just realized we didn't tell them we're orphans! "We don't have any," I said nonchalantly. Their beaks all dropped. I couldn't help but laugh at their expressions. "Oh my gosh, I wish I had a camera to capture the looks on your faces!" I actually had tears running down my face, the expressions were so priceless! "Keila!" My sister scolded. Wow. She seemed mad. I have no idea why, though. I stopped laughing, just to find out. "What?" I asked, still smiling. The tall one recovered first. "Well, do you two still express sadness?" The tall one asked. "I usually don't but I sometimes hear Lilly crying, and I feel it best not to talk to her, 'cuz I'm to scared I'll say one wrong thing and then she'll storm off in a huff. Which is pretty easy, considering we ran away from the orphanage. By the way, what are your names? I got Private's name, but the others, not so much," I said. "I'm Kowalski, that's Skipper, and that's Rico," Kowalski said, pointing at each one. I can tell Kowalski's the brains of the group. "Wait a minute. You said my eyes are blue," Lilly asked. Oh boy. She loves the color of her eyes, now she's gonna explode. Not literally. Unlike Rico would like. "Yes, aren't they when you're in human form?" Kowalski answered/ asked. "No, they're usually brown! Oh my gosh, on my sister, blue eyes look great, but I know I can't pull it off," She said. "Well, I think your eyes look just smashing," Private said, basicly telling her that he thought her eyes were pretty, which we both understood. My sister seemed to get embarrassed. I could tell, since I'm her sister. "Hey, we have the same eyes, and I don't get any compliments? No fair," I said. "I think yours are darker than hers, Keila. But, still very pretty," Kowalski said. He's my new favorite. "At least someone recognizes they're pretty, just like my sister's eyes. And, thank you, Kowalski," I said. Huh. First, I'm trying to bite his flipper off, now I'm thanking him for complimenting my eyes. Weird. Then, the fishbowl/ door opened. "Hey guys-" An otter started talking as she walked in, but the others pinned her to the ground. "Guys, this is getting old. It's just me, Marlene," Marlene said. "Marlene, what are you doing here sneaking around the HQ?" Skipper demanded. "UGH! I WASN'T SNEAKING!" She yelled. Yeah, if they're dating, it so won't last. But, it does remind me of my favorite pairing on a TV show... Oh, I need to focus! "OK, are you two, like, dating or something," I asked. They bot said in unison "WHAT? NO! NOT IN A MILLION YERS WOULD I DATE HIM/HER!" Skipper said her, but Marlene said him, in case you're wondering. "Hey, guys? One quick thing. COULD YOU PLEASE UNTIE US?" I yelled the last part. They untied us, and I said "I'm gonna go get some fresh air." "Want one of us to come with you?" Said Skipper. "OK," I answered. "Kowalski, you should go, since you're the only one that's taller than her," Skipper said. Oh, yay! I get to go with the one that complimented my eyes! We walked out of the HQ, and that's when the questions began.


	5. The sisters pasts

Lilly's POV

I was very scared. I knew my sister wasn't too frightened, but I was very worried. As Keila, and the other penguin were conversing up above the HQ as they had called it, I was left with the others. They all stared at me, looking worriedly at me. I stayed in a corner, and got low. The one that was shortest got close to me. He was the shortest of the group, but still taller than I was. I was always the tall one of any group, so it seemed very akward to be the shortest one now. As he approached me, I started backing away into the next corner. He was still trying to slowly approach me, as cautiously as he possibly could. Scared to death, I covered my eyes with my wings. Suddenly I felt a slick like wing slowly rub against my shoulder, when I lowered my wings it was the kind one. His name was Private as I recalled.

"There we are. See I'm not going to hurt you, little girl." He resumed stroking my shoulder. I could tell that out of all of them, that he was the one to have a heart. "Now, let's just have a seat, and we can explain things to you." I quickly shook my head. He might have been gentle, and sweet, but I was not going to move. The three boys, and otter stared at me. I didn't care if they were or not. I was too scared to move. it was times like this I missed my parents. I silently sat there, keeping my eyes closed, trying to remember their faces. I made me feel better all the time, but I knew it wouldn't this time.

Keila's POV

Kowalski and I sat together. Lord knew what was going on downstairs. Lilly was most likely freaking out. As long as she wasn't in the corner scared out of her mind. Things would be fine. She would often try to rember our parents, as best she could. The boys were quite surprised when we told them that. Kowalski was out there with me. He looked at me with an eyebrow raised. He could tell I was not that scared. He opened it up. "Umm, may I ask a few questions about you and your stepsister?"

I looked at him blankly. "Well, I can tell you about me, but I won't be telling you about Lilly. She doesn't like strangers knowing things about her. She sort of likes to be a closed book. You can ask any questions you want, but asking about her is going to far. All I'll tell you is don't touch her like that. Especially when she is scared, which is usually all the time." I said raising my eyebrows.

He looked a trifle bit embarrased. "Sorry bout that. So why were you two here? Did you two climb the wall?" He asked.

I held my arm, well now wing up to my face. "Well, being runaways, we can't afford admissions, so we climbed the wall, yes. We just wanted to see some zoo animals." I snickered. "I didn't think that we would become one, though. Thanks alot!" I stared at him. "I know it was you. I can tell, by your brains, that you were the one that did this." I looked at him with an impatient glare.

"Yep. Sorry bout that. So anything you can tell me about your family? Anything about your background you can tell me about?" He questioned.

I nodded in response. "Oh! Well, yes actually. When we were very young we lost someone. She lost her mother to sickness. And I lost my father to . . . well lets just say I lost him. Anywho, her father married my mother. At first we were a bit snipetty at each other, but we got past it. Pretty soon we started to learn to live together. Lilly's side of the family was Catholic, as mine was Protestant. We might seem like exact opposites, but we stay together as family, and love eachother very much. Then our parents, they, well they died." I said as I stared into the water. "As far as our joined family, we're . . . all that's left."

Kowalski stared at me saddened deeply. "Oh my dear. I am so sorry." He finished writing on his clipboard. "So you and Lilly ran away from the orphanage, eh?" He said feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I take it, you two didn't want to seperate. Either that or you felt that you wanted to remember the way your life was, and never try to eplace it with foster parents. That's quite understandable." I grinned. It felt good to know that somebody cared. it actually felt more than good. It felt great.

After our talking, I went back down into their HQ as they called it. When I came down, Lilly was cowering in the corner. As soon as I got down, she ran over to me without a sound, and gave me a frightened hug. "It's okay." I said as she was acting totally frightened.


	6. Don't touch

Keila's POV

I hugged my sister tight. "Alright, touched her at all," I asked. That was what scared her the most. The one known as Private raised his hand, err, flipper. I stopped hugging my sister, and walked over to him, smiling a gentle smile. The smile on my face turned into a scowl as I attacked him. Even with everyone pulling, I still wouldn't stop trying to strangle him. I yelled at him about the fact that I had just said not to touch her, yet he went and touched her anyways! Wow, to me, that sounded soooo wrong. OK, back to the story. I finally gave up on choking him. But, I still glared at him. My sister was cowering in the corner again. I calmly walked over to Private, making it seem like I was about to apologize. But, I smacked him on the face. "That was for scaring my sister!" I yelled. I looked over to my sister. Tears were running down the feathers on her cheeks. "And, for making her cry!" The others looked shocked at me, except my sister. She was still crying. I went over to her, to get her to stop crying, but she just pulled away, and ran out of the HQ crying. Now, I was shocked too. This isn't good. What am I going to do now?


	7. Officer X

The pair ran outside. keila hugged Lilly as she was frightened. "I'm so frightened." She said as she was being held by her younger sister.

Keila pulled her back so she could look her in the face. "I know. This is frightening. don't be scared. Being animals isn't so bad. We'll get through this, okay?" Lilly smiled, and nodded. Suddenly they saw a large net. It swooped down, and trapped the two sisters inside. A large muscular man held the net. He had a very macho looking beard, and sunglasses to hide his eyes. As he held the net up to his eyes, he grined devilishly.

The name on his badge said Officer X. When he spoke his voice was low and manly. "Got a call that there were two little birds running around the zoo, making a racket. When I heard that one of them was a penguin, I had the thought that you would be one of the four. You on the other hand. You must be new. I have never seen a penguin quite like you. Such a splendid little coat. Red and black. And also got a bonus. Keel billed toucan. The very symbol of the Amazon. I love the beak colors. Too bad I'll have to exterminate the two of you." They both were trembling as they laid in the nets scared of the large man. As they looked behind them the penguins were horrified of the two new editions to their zoo being carried off.

"Let us go! Get us out of here! HELP!" They screamed terrified.

Their doom was becoming more terrifying as they approached the exit of the zoo. They tried climbing , but the net was far too slippery. Out of nowhere they saw the woman that didn't allowthem admission. She was standing infront of the zoos gates. An angry glare was all over her face. She was looking at Officer X. "Excuse me, but New York city has a law against stealing exotic animals from the zoo." As soon as she got a look inside the net, she saw the two girls. They stared at her as they prayed they would be sent back. "Why, these might not be ours. They don't look too familiar to me." That was it. They were toast.

Officer X smiled, excitedly. "So does that mean they're mine?" When the penguins heard that, they were shoked. Rico bit on the ends of his flippers in anxiety. Kowalski gasped, and slowly shook his head. Skipper squinted angrily as he silently showed his hatred of the man. Private nearly fainted.

Luckily things didn't go that bad. "Of course not." Alice replied, as she rolled her eyes. "They might not be ours, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve to live. I have toucan, and penguin habitats for both of them." She took the net away from him and sent him on his way. Officer X squinted angrily before he left.

"You two looney birds have not seen the last of me."

They stuck their tongues out, and smirked. Alice smiled to the two birds that sat in the net. "Now to get you two to the vet's office. I'm sure you must be exhausted, coming from wherever you came from." The two dissappeared into the vet's four penguins got on eachother's shoulders to see into the window.


	8. Vet's office

The two girls were carried up to an Indian man. He was who they assumed to be the vet of the zoo. He was partially bald, and moderately tall. Then again, now that they shrunk, all humans looked like giants. Alice gently pulled them out of the nets. They were shoved into two cages. They patiently sat there side by side. They watched as the vet put some rubber gloves on. The Indian man was surprised to see the two. He grinned, and looked at Alice. "Wow, these two little ones must have come by transfer unnannounced. That's alright, though. I'll just give them a check up, and they can be on their way." He walked on over, and checked them over carefully. Checking them for illness, and parasites. They seemed fine according to how the vet reacted to them. "Well, the DNA tests say these are girls." He carefully put little leg bracelets on them. The bracelets were pink.

He nodded, and put them back into their cages. "They seem perfectly fine. Just malnourished." The sisters were not surprised by this announcement. After all they never really _had_ a home technically. Thus food was scarce, and wherever you got your next meal was not taken for granted. It must have shown through their animal bodies as well.

Alice responded to this. "No kidding they look like they'll just keel over any moment. So can they be sent back to the habitats?" Alice picked up Keila's cage. The vet nodded. "Alright. There's a problem though. The toucan exhibit is already full I can't stick the toucan in there, or it would be overcrowded. What should I do with the toucan?" Lilly looked at her sister through the bars. She had barely thought about being a different animal. It could mean she would be seperated from her.

The vet looked at the two birds. Lilly and Keila were staring at each other. The vet noticed the bond. He grinned with an idea. "Well, would you look at that. They seem to be very interested in each other. I say we could put them in the penguin habitat together. That would help even distribution, and add a little extra." The vet ruffled the feathers on top of the little toucan. She was fine with that outcome, as long as she was with her sister.

The two crates were carried in the blackness of the night. They suddenly saw their purses and clothes gone. They had left them in the sidewalk when they transformed, but they were now gone. The penguins must have taken them. When they were brought back, and let out, they walked up to the boys. Skipper walked up first. "So, how did it go? Did you need shots?" He asked shivering.

"Just a few. They said we are malnourished, so there's that. Oh, and we got these cool bracelets." Kela mentioned.

"Really? Well, that's wonderful!" Privae smiled to them. "So, is Lilly going to stay here too?"

Lilly nodded. "Yep. I get to stay here too."

Suddenly Keila smiled at Kowalski. She wanted to get to know this penguin better. As she looked around she asked. "So do I get a tour or do I have to ask?" She looked up at the taller penguin. "Maybe you can give me a tour." She said trying to sound assertive as she always did. Kowalski noticed he was asked to give the tour.

"Oh, sure. Is it okay if I give Keila the tour Skipper?" Skipper nodded.

Keila POV

I walked as Kowalski gave me the tour. Suddenly we walked past the lemurs habitat. I looked as the lemur that was there before was watching Kowalski and me walking. He laughed. "Oh. It seems the smarty penguin has a new girlfriend. I need to get me a good girlfriend. Hmm where does a king get a girlfriend?" He scrathed his head as I stared up at him. Kowalski was staring at him as well. He was obviously not the smartest animal here. "Hey, red and black penguin lady. I know that you to being on a date, but I was wondering. Is that pretty toucan lady friend of yours available?"

I scowled at him while getting incredibly red. Kowalski interviened. "Okay first of all, this is no date, romantic or otherwise. Secondly, no. I would rather die than let either of the girls date somebody like you." Julien simply rolled his eyes, and jumped back into the habitat.

We lughed and joked as soon as he left. "Ha! Date. Please. We are just walking. I doubt that this is a date." I joked. He laughed along with me. Suddenly he question. "For the record, did you want it to be a date?" He asked raising his eyebrows. I didn't expect that. Trying to be truthefull I responded. "Yes! Yes, I do!" I looked up as there was rain falling. Suddenly a clash of thunder erupted. He raised his eyebrows, surprised that I had said yes. I smiled shyly as I nodded in saying that I was hoping it was date. Gently without questions, he kissed me right in the rain.


	9. New beds

While Lilly was there with the other three boys, she was very nervous. She was not used to strangers, and especially not used to strangers, when she was alone. Private wanted her to feel welcome, but understood her sensetivity to the world. Her personality reminded him of Chucky from the rugrats. She didn't seem very brave, as others. As she was also very small. Private had thought that at one point or another she was most likely very brave. Whatever had caused her to change, must have been very awful. As soon as Keila got back with Kowalski, the group was trying to settle the girls in as roomates. They walked about the HQ, as they showed the girls where everything was inside. They were pointed out everything. Keila noticed as Lilly was walking, she seemed to walk differently. Instead of putting one foot infront of the other, she hopped with both feet. Lilly noticed it as well.

The two girls stared at her feet. "Hey, umm Skipper? What's wrong with her feet?" Keila asked as she stared at her sister. Skipper raised an eyebrow, and thought hard for a moment.

"You two wait right here. I'll be right back." Skipper flipped out of the habitat. When he left, she sat down to look at her new feet. They were long and slim, baby blue. Two toes in the front, and one in the back. After a moment or two, he returned with a book. The book showed a bunch of different toucans on the cover. The title said **1'000 and 1 things you ever need to know about toucans. **Skipper held it up to the girls. "I found this in the zoovenier shop. It's supposed to be the complete guide book on toucans, like you." Lilly opened up the book, and look through the table of contents. When she found a picture that looked like her, she read a few part on her feet. The page read.

_The keel billed toucan has two toes faces the front and one in the back. They naturally form that way for the toucan to go from one tree branch to the next. Because of this special formation, the toucan by instinct tends to hop rather than walk. They are made to hop along tree branches. This caused them to hop on flat grounds as well._

"So, I'm gunna hop along the floor all the time, like an idiot for the rest of my life?"She screeched. They all nodded, and she slumpt down. "Man, I feel so weird. Why didn't I get put into the toucan exhibit with the other toucans? They would know what to do." She sighed. The others felt a bit bad for her.

Skipper walked over to her. "Ahh, don't sweat it. Just because your with us, doesn't make you a freak. You have almost every color of the rainbow. You aren't a freak. You're . . . unique. Gives us a more colorful habitat to the human eye." He smiled. That made her feel more accepted.

All that was left was for them to have a bed to sleep in. When they heard this Keila and Lilly were so excited to have their own bed. On the streets, they occasionally took naps in furniture stores, until they were caught by the employees, or managers. That was if you were lucky, too. It felt fantastic to have a bed to call their own. Keila's bed was the first one to work on. Keila was made her own bed on the opposite side of the wall. Rico regurgitated four sticks of dynamite. He lined them up straight on the wall, and glued them on. The boys led the girls on top of the habitat. In a deep rumble, they felt the ground shake. A few minutes went by as the boys cemented out the bed. Kowalski made absoulutely certain it was to Keila's liking. She loved it very much. It was perfect for her. It was so much better than the awful orphanage beds.

Lilly was made a bed as well. Though when she laid on it, things felt weird. She felt uncomfortable laying down. When the boys saw her tossing and turning they looked through the book. One chapter explained that toucans slept in hollowed out holes in trees, in the rainforest. Private thought real hard on this one. He was good at solving problems, but this one was a tuffy. He then had an idea. He jumped up to high spot, and grabbed a small stick of TNT. He toped it up, and it blew out a hole. Lilly stared up at it, then climbed inside. She grabbed a few blankets, and stuck them inside the hole. It felt perfect. They all watched as she rolled into a ball and she was nothing but a ball of feathers, with a tail sticking out. They seemed to be adapting to their animal life style quite well.

Suddenly a loud shriek of help was heard. They noticed it as Marlene's voice. Skipper growled. "It's Blowhole. I knew he seemed quiet lately. Move out men." They all ran out quickly. The girls ran after them. "You two will stay right here. This is far too dangerous for you girls. Even ones so brave as you two." They watched as he flipped away. They returned, and saw their stuff in a pile in the corner. Keila's diary was piled next to her clothes, as Lilly's memory box was next to her own clothes. A note was taped to Keila's diary. It was from Skipper. Keila read it aloud. "Dear, girls. This stuff was found outside of the habitat. We could assume it was yours. For travelers, you sure pack light. We might not be around all the time, for we are very busy most of the time. During zoo hours, we are always here in the zoo. If you must just call us, if you are in danger. We like to think of ourselves as heroes. While we are not busy saving you, we will teach you the ropes of zoo life. Such as teaching Keila which fish are the best to eat, and teaching Lilly to fly. I encourage you both to get a much needed rest, for tomorrow is your presentation day to the zoo. Tourists love the new animals, so I want bright eyes, and feathered tails in the morning." With that they returned to their beds, and for the first time in a long time, got a very good night's sleep.


	10. Presentation

The girls woke up to an empty room. It took them a little while to realise where they were. It was always hard to remember when you were always on the road. You had to take a look at your surroundings, and then try to remember. Sometimes when they were human, they woke up in a place, that they didn't remember sleeping in. Keila jumped up, and looked around. Nobody was around. Even Kowalski was not in sight. She walked over to Lilly to wake her up. When she looked at her, she was stuff a fluffy ball of feathers, with a tail sticking up at the top. She shook her sister, and she sat straight up. "Hey, it's morning Lilly." Lilly nodded, and got down from her nest. They walked around, and noticed that nobody was in the HQ. The two decided to go up to the top. Keila went up first followed by Lilly. The food dish screeched when she moved it out of the way.

The boys were above waving to the tourists. Everybody stared at the newest two editions to the collection of the habitat. They heard some guy shouting at them. "Oh, there they are! It's the new penguin, and toucan." Suddenly a loud group of puffing sounds erupted as they saw flashes appearing before their eyes. Flash after flash. The lights were continuous, and giving them all headaches. Finally after what felt like an hour they all calmed down. The girls tried closing their eyes as the flashes went off. Even that was not enough to gaurd their eyes. When they opened their eyes, it was all over. They started seeing dots before their eyes. Skipper told the boys to help the girls stay standing up.

As soon as the cameras left they saw a familiar face coming towards the habitat. "This is Chuck Charles, live at the Central Park Zoo, with a special on the two newest editions to the zoo family. I'm here with zookeeper Alice with more on the subject." The girls watched as Alice told the camera about what had happened the night before. Keila didn't exactly know what it was she was supposed to be doing. She walked up to Kowalski. "Uhh, Kowalski, I don't mean to be a umm . . . neusance, but what exactly are Lilly and I supposed to do?"

He looked at her as he waved to the tourists. "Nothing special, just smile and wave happily. Maybe run around a little. What your sister does is up to her. As long as she doesn't try to hide." Kowalski leaped into the pool, as the tourists laughed and awed at the boys. The girls just decided to improvise. Lilly ruffled her feathers and looked at the crowd tilting her head. Keila did some belly slides, and batted her eyelashes. The tourists were loving it all. As soon as they were done being admired, the tourists left. The girls thought that it wasn't too bad.

Skipper smiled at the two, and nodded. "I must say. You two did spectacular for some first timers. Oh, it looks like our meals are coming this way. A zoo keeper walked by, and tossed some fish in for the boys, and Kelia. She looked at the raw fish, and picked it up by the tail. Her eyebrow rose at the sight of the raw thing that was once an animal. "Is something wrong there Keila?" She shook her head, no. She carefully rose it up her, and dipped it into her mouth. It did not taste as awful as she thought. She smiled, and took another in. Lilly was on the other side. She found an orange, and sunk her beak in. It was juicy and sweet.

Skipper sat next to them. "So ladies. How do you like our world so far?"

Lilly shrugged. "It's okay." She looked a bit dissappointedly to the side.

Private looked at her a bit confused. "You seem a bit let down. Is everything alright? What's wrong?"

Lilly confessed. "Well, it's just that . . . I was hoping I could see some toucans. I guess that I feel a bit lonely." She looked down.

Kowalski spoke up. "Well, I suppose I could help you out there. Did you know they have a trpical bird sanctuary right here in the zoo?"

Private smiled and nodded to this. "Yes. There are over forty different species of toucans in this sanctuary as well."

At this news Lilly perked up. "Really? Are there any that look . . . like me there?"

Intantly Skipper laughed, and sighed. "Oh, in that snactuary, I've seen them all shapes and sizes. I'm sure we'll find somebody for you." Skipper chuckled. "And you're in luck, as well. The toucan mating season starts this week. It's a real big thing here in the zoo. Tourists from all over come to see it. Maybe Alice will give you the chance to join in, when it starts." Lilly smiled at the thought of being able to go. She could find a boyfriend of her own like Keila did. Suddenly she heard something behind her. It was three lemurs. In an instant, Lilly ran from them, and hid behind Private. As julien was about to introduce himself, he looked at Lilly and grinned shyly. She didn't notice as she was busy hiding cowardly.


End file.
